Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday did not meet Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj as she left a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session midway.
Qureshi and Swaraj were attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) council of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UNGA session.
After the session, FM Qureshi spoke to the media and said that he did not get a chance to speak to his Indian counterpart as she left the session midway. “She left the meeting midway. Maybe she was not feeling well,” he said.
“My question is how is regional cooperation possible if the nations in the region are not ready to sit and you are the obstacle in those talks,” he questioned.
The FM further said, “If the nations want to achieve something from the SAARC forum they need to move forward.”
“To move forward, the next meeting has to be set. Only one nation is hampering the progress and success of SAARC in the region,” he asserted.
Further, the foreign minister said, “India talks about SAARC and what the platform can achieve, however, there has been no substantial result yet and their behaviour is contrary to SAARC objectives. Pakistan wants to see SAARC succeed in the region.”
FM Qureshi is currently in New York for the 73rd session of the UNGA.